Premier NZ Motorcycle Racing Event to be a John Britten Tribute.

Christchurch New Zealand – The Christchurch BEARS Motorcycle Club, in conjunction with the Britten Motorcycle Company, announced today that their annual Sound of Thunder motorcycle race meeting to be held in February 2015, will be called the “John Britten Tribute Sound of Thunder”.

“As 2015 marks the twentieth anniversary of John’s passing, the upcoming meeting will be named in John’s honour ” said BEARS President Murray Sutherland. “Our intention was to have a strong Britten presence at the event reflecting the occasion and we are very pleased to confirm that this will be happening”.

The Sound of Thunder is one of New Zealand’s premier motorcycle racing events, attracting as many as 150 competitors both nationally and internationally. It will be held at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Ruapuna, near Christchurch on February 21st and 22nd, 2015.

Examples of each of the three Britten variant models built will be present. Britten motorcycle owners globally have been invited to attend and with several owners already confirming their attendance, there will be at least seven Britten motorcycles at the event on public display. This will mean more than have previously been assembled together before. Demonstration runs will take place each day in order for spectators to see several of these bikes in action.

The Britten Motorcycle Company will complement the display with a comprehensive collection of memorabilia from the Britten Motorcycle project and various other design ventures and innovative ideas John undertook. This will also show the history and success of the Britten race team. “A lot of what will be on display will have never been seen by the public before”, said Kirsteen Britten, John’s wife and Britten Company Director.

This is a fantastic chance for the New Zealand public and overseas guests to see not only one Britten motorcycle but many in one location. These are Kiwi icons adopted into the upper levels of New Zealand culture with the heart-warming fairy tale story of a challenged young man and his small team creating something special from scratch and taking on the world and winning. This is certainly a very rare gathering and one that will appeal to motorcyclists and non-motorcyclists alike.

One of these motorcycles takes pride of place in our national museum and these sit right up there epitomising Kiwiana and all that is Kiwi along with pavlova, hokey pokey and buzzy bees to name a few.

Additional information. BEARS Club

The BEARS Motorcycle Club was formed in Christchurch in 1983 to promote the racing of British, European & American manufactured bikes. John Britten was a BEARS founding member and a participant of many race meetings. The club runs meetings throughout the year in Canterbury and still retains a strong membership. The acronym “BEARS” (British, European, American Racing Series) is now used globally to describe and promote this form of the sport. The Sound of Thunder race meeting has been successfully run for over thirty years now. It is held in  late February every year at Ruapuna Park. This is the home track and testing ground for all Britten motorcycles built.

JOHN BRITTEN

The Britten Motorcycle was the brainchild of Christchurch inventor John Britten and initial models were built and developed in Christchurch New Zealand during the late 1980s. The most recognisable shape was the famous Blue and Pink painted bike that catapulted him into history in the early nineties. Six of these were built before Britten’s death from Melanoma in 1995. Another four were built in the following four years.

Britten’s motorcycles featured a number of innovations including extensive use of carbon fibre, the radiator located under the seat, double wishbone front suspension, frameless chassis and engine data logging.

The bikes raced very successfully all around the world and were considered to be one of the most influential racing motorcycles of the 1990s.

Of the fourteen Britten motorcycles built, thirteen survive today. They are held in very high esteem in the motorcycle world still influencing current cutting edge motorcycle design.